Amidst the carnage of the Civil War — upward of 700,000 dead with 40,000 of them from New York, more than any other state — came not only mass-mourning, but an urgent need for additional recruits to replenish the depleted United States Army.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proposed an innovative solution: in his annual message to Congress that December, he called for increased immigration to fill long-vacant civilian jobs in farming, mining, and other industries. [Read more…] about Harold Holzer On The Civil War, Immigration, and Lincoln
